Thursday, December 20, 2007

"So I chowed down on free sandwiches, chicken wings, and, wonderfully enough, quiche; drank free soda and vitamin C-boosting grape juice; palled around with some of the members of the production crew, who love bitching about movies just as much as I do; and spotted not just Reese Witherspoon, who was busy talking to her handlers, but also Jake "Donnie Darko" Gyllenhaal... who kissed his girlfriend when she had a free moment, and then noticed that the movie theater would have been playing Blade Runner: The Final Cut, had the theater not been shut down for the day. I recall he said he thought that was "awesome."

Or someone muttered it. I think it was him.

Anyway, once filming had finished for the day, and I waited out in the lobby so the production crew could clear away the heavy floodlights, Mr. Gyllenhaal and Ms. Witherspoon were being escorted out by their driver. Mr. Gyllenhaal, perhaps sensing the spirit of vengeance I'm capable of embodying, sidled behind me, and avoided me on general principle... or perhaps this avoidance was due to a general paranoia that comes with being famous. Take your pick. Ms. Witherspoon, on the other hand, turned to me, smiled, waved, and said "Hi." Which I, for lack of anything witty to say, shamelessly echoed.She may be shorter in person than I imagined, but damn if she's not a polite person when she's got the opportunity to be". Source: www.Soulcast.com

Monday, December 17, 2007

"If we cannot see the possibility of greatness, how can we dream it?" -Lee Strasberg.

"Cult films, which I'm hoping DONNIE DARKO eventually achieves in status, don't become notorious by recycling material already familiar. It's that one scene in a film you've never experienced, and you'll never see it done again. DONNIE DARKO has these peculiar gems of greatness scattered throughout that makes one forget about the fact that the film they are watching is kind of silly when it comes down to it". Source: www.Davegunn.com

"When Frank makes Donnie flood the school, he allows Donnie to make his major connection with Gretchen, by saving her from getting tormented from the other people from the school. When Frank shows Donnie the nature of time, and the portals and such, he shows Donnie the ultimate nature of the sacrifice he has to make will be, and prepares him for it. [...] He manipulates Donnie to ensure that their world will end, and Donnie can do nothing to manipulate him. When Donnie is hitting at the wall, he is at the barrier between his world, and Frank, who can do whatever he wants". Source: www.Barbelith.com

"On the empty flight back to Elizabethtown, Drew meets Claire: a bored and bouncy flight attendant who engages him in conversation. Claire is what could be referred to as the stereotypical movie female arch-type for the new millennium: a young, cute girl whose life is a mess, but she has the innate ability to look into the souls of the troubled male and see who they really are even if they don’t. I almost blame Crowe for fueling this type, since Kate Hudson’s Penny Lane was one of the founding mothers of this kind of character (see also Natalie Portman in “Garden State”). Source: www.hometheaterforum.com

"Elizabethtown feels like a retread of Almost Famous. A guy (Orlando Bloom, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy) goes on some important life-journey where he meets a free-spirited girl (Kirsten Dunst, Wimbledon, Spider-Man 2) and falls madly in love. This is a huge simplification, but one cannot help notice the similarities between Dunst's Claire Colburn and Kate Hudson's Penny Lane". Source: www.Haro-online.com

"Kate Hudson is wonderful as Penny Lane. She exudes a resilient confidence on the outside, but underneath is a flowing stream of emotion. Hudson does great in releasing that emotion and tucking it back as if it was just a mistake". Source: www.listology.com

Source: www.Thehoya.com"Patrick Fugit’s loyal Paul is a variation of his role as Penny Lane’s good-hearted savior in Almost Famous, and he is equally effective in both roles". "there is a scene where he smiles at Lohman close to the end of the film and that smile says everything you need to know about that character at that moment in the film. It is one of those wordless, crystalized moments in cinematic time that says everything about everything right then, right there". Source: Filethirteen.com

"Donnie stands for finding meaning in the chaos, for creating his own truth in a world without it, for being able to face the unhappy ending with a smile because of the journey to that end. The road of Existentialism--either in the philosophy books or in this film--is a non-rational personal experience that gives hope and meaning to face a reality that is too much to bear and that would ultimately be better off destroyed (either in reality or outside it)". Source: mmsbullpen.blogspot.com

WATCH THIS VIDEO, AN INTERTWINED SEQUENCING OF SCENES OF "ALMOST FAMOUS" AND "ELIZABETHTOWN", PENNY LANE AND CLAIRE COLBURN:

Friday, December 14, 2007

"Into this void of potential mates comes a man you may not have considered before, a man of substance, quietude and stability, a cerebral creature with a culture all his own. In short, a geek.

Why Geek Dudes Rule:

They are generally available.Other women will tend not to steal them.They can fix things.Your parents will love them.

Because they have been so abused and ignored by society, many geeks have gone underground. You may actually know some and just haven't noticed them. They often feel resentful, and misunderstood, and it is important to realize this as you grow closer to them. Don't ever try to force the issue, or make crazy demands that he choose between his computer and you. Remember, his computer has been there for him his whole life; you are a new interloper he hasn't quite grasped yet.

Geek dudes thrive on mystery and love challenges and intellectual puzzles. Don't you consider yourself one? Wouldn't you like a little intellectual stimulation or your own? We thought so".

Thursday, December 13, 2007

-Scott Lunke, a visitor from Gettysburg, S.D., saw Stanley Tucci in the Nordstrom shoe department last week. Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhaal were at A16 on Thursday, where a spy says they were "kissing and eating." Source: Sfgate.com

"Guess who is back in town to tempt us with their cuteness? Yes, Jake and Reese are continuing their SF gourmet tours! They had lunch at Zuni last Thursday, where they sat at my favorite table (on the bridge overlooking the oven below), and ordered the house-cured anchovies and a salad, plus a chicken sandwich and grouper. To drink, they walked on the wild side with some lemongrass tea and apple juice. From my source: “Reese seemed a little aloof, but Jake (still looking nice and buff) was trying to warm her up by playing Mr. Flirty-flirt with her—even smooched with her. So effing cute!”Source: www.Tablehopper.com

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

"In his debut directorial effort, (although he had already co-written a previous horror movie, "Aberration", in 1997) Scott Lew directs "Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas" (2006), defined by himself as "a labor of love" that took almost a decade to bring to the screen. Presented at the SXSW Film Festival, the film's message is "about rediscovering what's most important in life, expressing yourself and having fun". In 2003, Scott Lew was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), which motivated him even more to direct his story, "dedicated to anyone who has ever had a dark night of the soul and figured out a way to come out smiling".The nerdy protagonist is Bickford Schmeckler (Patrick Fugit, "Almost Famous", "White Oleander", "Wristcutters: A Love Story") and he suffers from paranoia in addition to being a science fiend hidden by a typical college freshman façade. He's written down all the theories that have turned up in his intellectually suffocated mind in a notebook with a steel cover called, in the most generic way, "The Book". His geeky existence, slurping lollipops and wearing ironic t-shirts, is occasionally interrupted by college parties, where everyone has great time drinking, smoking pot, and flirting with girls, except him. He's always absorbed in his studies of a new revolutionary cosmic theory about unifiying chaos and find a meaning in everything, although sometimes his confusing thoughts go something like this: "Nothing can ever be truly, fully understood, not even the most simple idea. Not even this."As crazy as his ideas on paper can seem to the other students, Bickford's nature is undeniably stubborn and persevering and he doesn't mind the stares of incredulity that greet him. In fact, almost every secondary character in the story holds an ambiguous attitude towards Bickford's eccentricity; there is admiration mixed with perplexity, due to the recent popularity of quantum mechanics. Max Planck, considerated the father of quantum mechanics, discovered that light was made up of particles, Schrödinger hypothesized that electrons were waves, Max Born took this wave theory to the next level saying that these waves were just probabilities. Heisenberg stated the uncertainty principle widening the classical Newtonian physics precepts.

Of course, the film doesn't rely so heavily on the discipline of physics, but there are a few hints in the script that will offer more fun to the quantum theory enthusiasts. And not only physics — we will find traces of Marshall McLuhan's manifesto: a postmodern man will exist in a multi-sensory state, previously fragmented with the advent of the phonetic alphabet. Also this weird story will make more sense to those viewers who feel some affinity for geeks or social misfits. The beautiful and colourful cinematography by Lowell Peterson helps us to feel sympathetic toward the characters.One of the main elements that make this indie comedy work is the constant sexual tension between Bickford and Sarah Witt (Olivia Wilde, "The Girl Next Door", "Conversations with Other Women", "Alpha Dog") derived from their initial incompatibility. She is a wild sex-addict, a pot-smoking sorority girl who isn't afraid of Bickford's sharp personality and she becomes progressively more attracted to him after stealing his beloved book from his room, ignoring the warning "All you dare enter here be damned".Sarah uses "The Book" as her personal source of inspiration and she starts a new life as an experimental painter, losing her interest in promiscuity, and jealous of this new stimulation, her buddy Trent (Reid Scott) throws Bickford's book into a garbage can in the presence of an angry Bickford who thinks it's the end of his self-controlled world.Resentful of Sarah and prey to his own mental anguish, Bickford establishes a peculiar friendship with a demented homeless guy named Spaceman (Matthew Lillard), who believes in inter-dimensional beings and temporal loops, while Bickford's best friend Ralph (Fran Kranz) comes out of the closet and declares himself gay.

Bob (John Cho, "Solaris", "American Dreamz", "The Air I Breathe") and Sam (Mageina Tovah, "Failure to Launch", "Spider-Man 2", "Spider-Man 3") are members of a "Dungeons and Dragons" group and they work in a comic store, the Golden Apple. When they find the book in the trash, they discover the "braingasms" (mental orgasms) produced by reading it and feel so enlightened they create "The Reality Isn't Club" and make copies of the book to sell on campus. There is a curious connection between comic superheroes and the geeks, because the circus sideshow was the source of the word "geek", and the superheroes as Superman or Spider-Man used amazing acrobatics.A bitter Bickford takes his anger out on the college administration until Sarah recovers the book and gives it back to him. Ralph is living happily now, and advises Bickford to pursue his own happiness, saying, "There is no need to be so intense about everything". It's obvious at this point that Bickford has suffered some type of childhood trauma that makes him feel threatened by the idea of happiness.Professor Adams (Cheryl Hines, "Along Came Polly", "Our Very Own", "Waitress") shows up in the third act of the film as an opportunistic sycophant who offers Bickford a deal for a commercial release of his book. But Bickford sticks to his guns and rejects the offer because he has already found a new meaning which cannot even be deciphered from the pages of his unfinished book.Thee film comes to a touching conclusion as Bickford explains his refusal to publish the book, he reconciles with the D&D group at the Golden Apple, and enjoys a happy romantic liaison with Sarah, for whom he writes an Epic Sex Poem".Published on 11th December in Blogcritics.org.WATCH "BICKFORD SCHMECKLER'S VIDEO":

Monday, December 10, 2007

"Last night in the end of a dark dead end street in San Francisco’s Twin Peaks, Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon were snuggling together in a garage. A very cold garage.

Reese is shooting her movie "Four Christmases" in The City. Jake came to visit. Her two kids were hanging as well".

Source: Theradreport.com"The reportedly very prickly Reese Witherspoon and rubenesque Vince Vaughn -- whatever, we'd hit it. Hit it hard -- are in town filming their new divorce-themed romcom, "Four Christmases". (According to IMBD, it's about a "couple struggle to visit all four of their divorced parents on Christmas Day." If you're not in tears already, then clearly you have no soul.) And here they are at a....downtown locale of some sort? We can't wait for the film to open next year at this time. Or not. Anyway: laughter, tears". Source: Sfist.comView all the pictures in Popsugar.com

Saturday, December 08, 2007

"Before Maggie Gyllenhaal, before Parker Posey, there was Adrienne Shelly. Around 1990, when the first wave of the Sundance-era indie-film revolution was cresting, Shelly was the queen of the scene. With the one-two punch of The Unbelievable Truth (pictured) and Trust, she and filmmaker Hal Hartley had made put each other on the map, and those deadpan romantic comedies had made the lush-lipped actress a pin-up among indie film fanboys. She'd go on to specialize in portrayals of waifish, fringe-dwelling women who often seemed to hide a ferocious intelligence behind an offbeat exterior. In recent years, she'd largely given up acting for directing (though she appeared on screen this year in Matt Dillon's Factotum), including a movie she'd recently directed and submitted to the 2007 Sundance Festival called Waitress,starring Keri Russell.

It's worth going back and watching the Hartley movies or Joel Hershman's Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, and Deran Serafian's The Road Killers in order to recall what a singular, sharp but sweet presence she was in movies. Meanwhile, let's hope Sundance screens Waitress and finds a way to pay tribute to Shelly; after all, she helped lay the fest's foundation". Source: Popwatch.ew.com

Thursday, December 06, 2007

"Actor Jake Gyllenhaal has generously decided to auction a second chance to visit the set of one of his upcoming movies AND have lunch with him, with proceeds benefiting the ACLU of Southern California! The winning bidder may bring one guest to share in this experience!

The winner of this auction lot will visit Gyllenhaal on the set of "Brothers", filming in Santa Fe, New Mexico through mid-January 2008. "Brothers" is about a young man who comforts his older brother's wife and children after he goes missing in Afghanistan. The film also features Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman.

With talent and instinct beyond his years, Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal is speeding down the fast track of stardom. Currently, he can be seen in New Line Cinema's "Rendition" along with Reese Witherspoon and Meryl Streep. Even in the early stages of his career, he starred opposite several of today's most respected actors, such as Dustin Hoffman, Laura Dern, Holly Hunter, John C. Reilly and Susan Sarandon.

[...] Gyllenhaal earned his first Oscar nomination for the role of "Jack" in the highly acclaimed Brokeback Mountain. The film, which chronicled an intense relationship between two Wyoming stockmen, was directed by Ang Lee and co-starred Heath Ledger.

[...] A true testament to his character, Gyllenhaal's official website includes a section on causes he cares about, with links to College Summit, NION and the ACLU. He has even spoken out on the film industry's responsibility to address political issues. Along with his parents Naomi Foner - Gyllenhaal and Stephen Gyllenhaal, and sister Maggie Gyllenhall, Jake received the ACLU Foundation Torch of Liberty Award in 2003".Source: Charityfolks.com

Monday, December 03, 2007

The couple - who met on the set of their film 'Rendition' earlier this year - fell in love with Italian food during their recent break to Rome, so Jake arranged for a top chef to visit his house and show his new girl around the kitchen.

A source said: "Reese fell in love with Rome and Italian food reminds her of the great time they had together. Jake knew Reese would be thrilled to learn how to make some of the dishes herself. She loves cooking for her children."

Reese has two children with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, eight-year-old daughter Ava and four-year-old son Deacon.

The Oscar-winning actress is believed to have been dating Jake for months, but the couple only went public with their romance in October.

That same month, Jake joined Reese and her children to go trick or treating on Halloween (31.10.07).

The 31-year-old actress was dressed as a witch, as was daughter Ava. Jake, 26, was dressed in a gorilla suit, while Deacon wore a superhero outfit". Source: People.monstersandcritics.com

Sunday, December 02, 2007

"One of our favourite celebrity style makers, Kirsten Dunst, has been signed up to front Miu Miu next season. She has just shot the spring/summer 2008 campaign in LA with fashion shutterbugs Mert and Marcus (who were nominated for a British Fashion Award last night). Miuccia Prada has always been fond of using celebrities for Miu Miu campaigns – previously casting Kim Basinger and Lindsay Lohan – although last season model Laeticia Casta starred in the ads. Miu Miu is set to expand even further in the US next year with new stores planned for New York and LA, so it was the perfect time to inject some Hollywood glamour into the brand again". Source: Elleuk.com

Friday, November 30, 2007

"Reese Witherspoon ranked number one on The Hollywood Reporter’s annual list of the highest-paid actresses. The 31-year-old actress commands $15 million to $20 million a movie.

Angelina Jolie came in second, and Cameron Diaz came in third with a $15 million-per-movie requirement.

While Angelina and Reese are now asking for $15 million-$20 million per movie, they frequently agree to “no-quote deals” — deals in which the studios actually pay them far less than their usual fee". Here’s The Hollywood Reporter’s top ten list:

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

"Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath was the first football player to find rock-star status.

Universal Pictures will turn the life of Joe Namath into a feature film, with Jake Gyllenhaal playing the Hall of Fame quarterback.

David Hollander will write the script once the writers strike is over. Mad Chance's Andrew Lazar will produce. Jimmy Walsh, who runs Namanco Prods., exec produces.

Walsh said he and Namath OK'd the movie after a long pursuit by Lazar, a strong take by Hollander and the belief that the athletic Gyllenhaal was the right actor to play him.

While other quarterbacks racked up bigger lifetime stats, Namath became the first football player to achieve rock-star status. The pic will tell the story of how the golden-armed kid from Beaver Falls, Pa., became Broadway Joe, the New York Jets quarterback who became a '60s cultural figure.

[...] Gyllenhaal, who is coming off "Rendition" and "Zodiac," is currently shooting the Jim Sheridan-directed "Brothers" with Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman and will follow that by teaming with Doug Liman on an untitled project at DreamWorks that revolves around a moon expedition". Source: Variety.com

Akin to the same effect of a lit match on a perfectly sunny day, producing a subsequent yuxtaposing of both lights. There is a melodic overabundance pouring from this debut album by alternative Acoustic Folk/Pop-rock band Mushman and their leaders, actors, and musicians Patrick Fugit and David Fetzer from Salt Lake City.David Fetzer plays the guitar, the harmonica, some additonal keys, the guitar-banjo, and he's the main singer. Patrick Fugit plays the guitar, the Flamenco guitar, the harmonica, and occasionally he dares to sing a bit. Camden Chamberlain plays the bass and he's the recording wizard who does the mixing and mastering of the songs. Doug Grose plays the keys and Ian Aldous is the drummer. Their influences are varied: Iron and Wine, Elliott Smith, Nick Drake, The Shins, Grandaddy, Neil Young, Cat Stevens, etc.

The band's name refers to movie star Steve McQueen, who used it as an alias: "He would check into hotels under the name Harvey Mushman", Fugit told to Deseretnews in an interview "McQueen was pretty cool, and we couldn't think of anything better. So it stuck."

Their debut album "Eddie Do", released on November 2, 2007 is a quirky compilation of stories of the life of a fictional kid. “Eddie is sort of a... um... metaphor for my neurosis in relation to girls. I think it’s manifested as a 6 year old boy – that’s my emotional maturity when it comes to dating” -David Fetzer tries to explain the biographical origins of Eddie in an interview for Elitestv.

The record contains thirteen tracks written by Mushman, except "From the ground, Looking up," which is by David and Scott Fetzer and "Brennan's Theme" composed by Seth Bernard (Earthworkmusic.com). His contrasts broaden the emotional childlike roller coaster vibe providing a naughty comfort while listening and even quite time after listening to it.

The first track, "Eddie's Balloon" has a similar atmosphere and melodic line to a song called "Spaceman," "Eddie was afraid to die but didn't know why" introduces in the fearful mind of Eddie the young lonely antihero: "from his window" he waited, maybe a revelation looking at a distant high heaven, with a sad choir extending in a mute and inconclusive instrumental silt.

The second, "It's Too High" is like a brief joke through a vocal counting up (6,7,8).

Third song, "I don't Know" was featured in the hilarious comedy film Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas (2006) by Scott Lew and is about the continuous doubting by the paranoid kid: "I don't know if you tell the truth, I don't know if I want you too... I don't know what to do, what to do with you, I don't know you." It makes him look like a particularly traumatized boy by mercurial femenine behaviour.

In the fourth "Pirate Pete" Fetzer would confess: “I was going to school at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan for acting and theater. I was in a production where I was playing a character that had syphilis and so I was in a strange mind-set during that production. There is a certain scene where he is loosing his mind and it was really messing with me. At the same time, my roommate had this figurine of a pirate with a provocative looking telescope... the two sort of combined and then I wrote the song”. Certainly, a weird inspiration for a song whose obsessive request is "I wish you were my friend".

The fifth track, "From the Clouds, Looking Down" is a cloudy instrumental gone haywire through a granular guitar sound.

Going on with "Eddie's Nightmare," some latent schizo symptoms lie hidden under a slothful tempo whose reverberations are expanding and receding as a nightmare blocking our numb conscience: "The summer so bright... and some people were blinded," our protagonist mumbles again.

In the seventh "Intermission" there is a rather comical vocal reminder "Ladies and gentlemen we take one minute four seconds intermission." which ends with a non-ironic dry "thank you".

The eight track (and beginning of Side B) is another instrumental "Here Again, Gone Again." It's a very solemn passage punctuated with bold flamenco guitar chords.

The next is also an instrumental piece. "From the Ground, Looking Up" is beset by crystalline string swells that remind me of the famous "Hotel California" by The Eagles.

We return back to the thoughts of Eddie spoken in riddles "You Don't Know," a beautiful song with a very low and slow beginning which gingerly shows us Eddie's sweetly conflicted heart: "You don't know me... don't say you know what I've been through... you don't know how I see you..." ending with this choir "turuturututu tururututu" which reminded me partially to the final desperate choir of Lou Reed's "Smile" from "Growing up in Public" (1980).

Only to be darkened fiercely through the next "Eddie's Lament:" "And then one night he run away, too young to drive but too sad to stay", which culminates with a series of "Aha, Aha, Aha" which combines a hopefulness breeze with a restless sadness.

The final theme "Brennan's Theme" appears in the recent film "Wristcutters: A Love Story" (2006) by Goran Dukic, which focuses on suicidal misfits and that was nominated in Sundance and won the Grand Jury Feature Film award at the 11th annual Gen Art Film Fest. Patrick Fugit comments about this song: “I had asked my friend Seth Bernard to do the score for a documentary I was filming about T. Casey Brennan and I just loved what he did. It captured this guy’s tragic and crazy side; the part of this dude who took way too much acid”.

The record was mixed and mastered by Camdem Chamberlain at Kitefishing's studio during the summer of 2004. It is produced by Mushman and Camdem Chamberlain, artwork and layout of the record by Susan Fawcett, and is available for sale in:Fox on a hill Productions